A Shot Of Nascar's Past

David Teel

April 23, 2006|By DAVID TEEL Daily Press

Big news out of Richmond last week. No, our knot-headed legislators did not craft a transportation bill, and the Faith Hill-Tim McGraw tour did not add a second show at the Coliseum. We're talking much bigger.

Richmond International Raceway landed a sponsor for its Nextel Cup event next month.

Granted, a business attaching its name to a stock-car race, or any sports event for that matter, is as yesterday as Hank Williams Sr. But this is a first: The Crown Royal 400.

That's Crown Royal as in whiskey, kin to demon rum, an unmistakable part of racing lore but long shunned as a title sponsor.

Why, stock-car icon Junior Johnson spent a year in a Federal Four Seasons for runnin' liquor during the '50s. Yet it wasn't until November 2004 that NASCAR lifted its ban on distilled spirits advertising.

"We felt the time was right," NASCAR president Mike Helton said then.

Translation: Whiskey may be brown, and tequila may be clear, but the money they make is green. And green is our favorite color.

(Full disclosure: Crown Royal is owned by Diageo, parent company of Sterling vineyards. Sterling Cabs are a staple of the Teel cellar.)

Crown Royal delved into NASCAR last year as a sponsor of then-defending Cup champion Kurt Busch's No. 97 Ford. The team took its inaugural checkered flag in September at, cue the symmetry, Richmond.

RIR "will always be special to Crown Royal and our consumers as it was the site of our first-ever victory," senior brand manager Jim Lorenz said in a press release.

Uh, Jim, run that jive elsewhere. Nine of 10 Crown quaffers don't know RIR from the IRS, or Jeff Gordon from Gordon Lightfoot.

Two months after Busch's Richmond victory, his relationship with Crown soured when Phoenix-area police said they smelled alcohol when citing him for reckless driving near the race track. A Breathalyzer malfunctioned, and Busch denied alcohol was involved, but for a sponsor promoting "Be a Champion, Drink Responsibly," the incident was embarrassing nonetheless.

Busch switched teams during the offseason and now drives -- you can't make this up -- the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge piloted previously by Rusty Wallace. Crown Royal stuck with Busch's former employer, Roush Racing, and this season is helping to bankroll driver Jamie McMurray's No. 26 Ford -- a disappointing 21st in points entering Saturday night's Subway Fresh 500 (no cheese on my 6-inch turkey) at Phoenix.

The Richmond race May 6 will be the first NASCAR event to carry a liquor's name and puts Crown in the company of banks, movies, soft drinks, restaurants, insurance providers, satellite-radio networks and myriad other rackets. What, then, are the next directions in NASCAR sponsorships?

Well, the suits in charge are determined to diversify not only their driver pool but also their fan base. That means companies and products familiar to young people, women, African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, seniors, etc.

But the final frontier for a sport that's already been in bed with alcohol and tobacco is ... firearms. Ladies and gentlemen, stay tuned for the Smith & Wesson 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race's grand marshal, of course: Charlton Heston.

Good luck prying the green flag from his cold, dead hands.

David Teel can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com *